Hydroelectric Production Managers
In short: today's best AI models could do about 21% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 66% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 30% of the time, stays with people.
Manage operations at hydroelectric power generation facilities. Maintain and monitor hydroelectric plant equipment for efficient and safe plant operations.
$126,060 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on8 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet20 h
- Stays with people12 h
Hydroelectric Production Managers, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 8 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 20 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 12 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Provide technical direction in the erection or commissioning of hydroelectric equipment or supporting electrical or mechanical systems (about 2 h); Plan or coordinate hydroelectric production operations to meet customer requirements (about 2 h); Develop or implement policy evaluation procedures for hydroelectric generation activities (about 2 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 70%
- 15%
- 15%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 5%. Today's estimate: 21%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 18 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: none to 0.0034% (released February and March 2025); 0.0017% to none (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 18 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0034% | 619 of 703 | 2 of 18 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0017% | 646 of 655 | 1 of 18 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0018% | 656 of 672 | 1 of 18 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 18 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 18 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 18 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 8% of this job's working time as physical work. For 8% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 8% in a structured facility. 0.16 of 3, the 471st highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 92%
- In a structured facility 8%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 18 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop or implement projects to improve efficiency, economy, or effectiveness of hydroelectric plant operations.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 15% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 2.5 work weeks | 6%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Plan or manage hydroelectric plant upgrades.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 15% | 4.2 work days1 work day to 3.5 work weeks | 6%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Develop or implement policy evaluation procedures for hydroelectric generation activities.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 12% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Direct operations, maintenance, or repair of hydroelectric power facilities.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Provide technical direction in the erection or commissioning of hydroelectric equipment or supporting electrical or mechanical systems.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 10% | 1.3 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 44%Half by Dec 2026 | |
| Develop or review budgets, annual plans, power contracts, power rates, standing operating procedures, power reviews, or engineering studies.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 2.1 work days3.3 h to 1.3 work weeks | 18%Half by Jul 2027 | |
| Supervise hydropower plant equipment installations, upgrades, or maintenance.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 5 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | Stays with people | |
| Plan or coordinate hydroelectric production operations to meet customer requirements.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 3.3 h50 min to 1 work day | 86%Half by now | |
| Supervise or monitor hydroelectric facility operations to ensure that generation or mechanical equipment conform to applicable regulations or standards.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Inspect hydroelectric facilities, including switchyards, control houses, or relay houses, for normal operation or adherence to safety standards.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Boston Dynamics Spot + Energy Robotics (now Korial) autonomous inspection software (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 2.1 h50 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Monitor or inspect hydroelectric equipment, such as hydro-turbines, generators, or control systems.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 h38 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Maintain records of hydroelectric facility operations, maintenance, or repairs.Done daily by most who do it. | 2% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | 100%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Hydroelectric Production Managers is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 21% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 66% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (48% to 70% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Hydroelectric Production Managers come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Provide technical direction in the erection or commissioning of hydroelectric equipment or supporting electrical or mechanical systems (44% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Plan or coordinate hydroelectric production operations to meet customer requirements (86% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Develop or implement policy evaluation procedures for hydroelectric generation activities (31% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Hydroelectric Production Managers stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Direct operations, maintenance, or repair of hydroelectric power facilities; Supervise hydropower plant equipment installations, upgrades, or maintenance; and Supervise or monitor hydroelectric facility operations to ensure that generation or mechanical equipment conform to applicable regulations or standards. Together such tasks are about 30% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Hydroelectric Production Managers?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 1%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Hydroelectric Production Managers?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 8% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 8% of the working time, 8% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.16 of 3. One example: Boston Dynamics Spot + Energy Robotics (now Korial) autonomous inspection software for "inspect hydroelectric facilities, including switchyards, control houses, or relay houses, for normal operation or adherence to safety standards". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 18 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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